In 2010, San Marcos was listed in Business Week's fourth annual survey of the "Best Places to Raise your Kids".[4] In 2013 and 2014, the United States Census Bureau named San Marcos the fastest-growing city in the United States.[5][6] In December 2013, San Marcos was named #9 on Business Insider's list of the "10 Most Exciting Small Cities In America".[7]

Contents

San Marcos is in an area locally known as Central Texas. It is 29 miles southwest of Austin and 47 miles northeast of San Antonio. According to the United States Census Bureau, in 2010, the city had a total area of 30.22 square miles (78.269 km2). Interstate 35 is the main highway through the city. The city is situated on the Balcones Fault, the boundary between the Hill Country and the Coastal Plains. Along the fault, many springs emerge, such as San Marcos Springs, which forms Spring Lake and is the source of the San Marcos River. The eastern part of the city is blackland prairie. The western part consists of forested or grassy rolling hills, often marked with cacti.

The San Marcos River and the Blanco River flow through the city, along with Cottonwood Creek, Purgatory Creek, Sink Creek, and Willow Springs Creek.

The climate in this area is characterized by hot, humid summers and generally mild to cool winters. Annual precipitation is about 34 inches (864 mm), almost all is rain (winter snow or ice is very rare). According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, San Marcos has a humid subtropical climate, abbreviated "Cfa" on climate maps.[8]

San Marcos is also home to Aquarena Center,[3] the Meadows Center for Water and the Environment,[10] the San Marcos National Fish Hatchery and Aquatic Resource Center,[11] the A. E. Wood Texas Fish Hatchery,[12] the San Marcos Nature Center,[13] the Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos,[14] and the Indigenous Cultures Institute.[15]

Gary Job Corps Center, the largest Job Corps center in the U.S.,[16] is a few miles east of the center of town. In June 2006, The View named the San Marcos Outlets as the third-best place to shop in the world. About six million people visit the malls annually.[17]

The San Marcos River and the Blanco River flow through the city, along with Cottonwood Creek, Purgatory Creek, Sink Creek, and Willow Springs Creek. Each of these rivers and creeks has parks or nature preserves with hiking trails along them.[18]

In 2010, San Marcos was listed in Business Week magazine's fourth annual survey of the "Best Places to Raise your Kids."[4] In 2013 and 2014, the United States Census Bureau named San Marcos the fastest-growing city in the United States.[5][20] In December 2013, San Marcos was named #9 on the Business Insider list of the "10 Most Exciting Small Cities In America."[7]

The river is a popular recreational area and is frequented by residents and tourists for tubing, canoeing, swimming, and fishing. The Texas Water Safari starts in San Marcos on the first Saturday in June each year. Due in part to its natural beauty, the city was nicknamed "San Marvelous." The City of San Marcos references the nickname in its "Keep San Marcos Beautiful" campaign.[21][dead link]

The intersection of LBJ Drive and MLK Drive in San Marcos is thought to be the only place in the nation where streets named after both men meet. The City of San Marcos and the San Marcos Arts Commission broke ground in January 2013 on a commemorative sculpture that will sit at the intersection. Designed by Aaron P. Hussey, the sculpture will depict Johnson and King conversing in the Oval Office.[22][23] The sculpture was officially unveiled on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 2014.

The town center (referred to locally as "the square") was laid out in 1851. The Hays County Courthouse, which sits in the center, was built in 1908. The downtown area surrounding the courthouse is home to many of the city's bars, restaurants, boutiques, and music venues, making it a top entertainment destination. The Texas Music Theater, directly across the street from the courthouse, hosted the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Lone Star Music Awards.[24][25]

For more than 20 years, the San Marcos Performing Arts Commission and the San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department have hosted the Summer in the Park concert series with live music at an outdoor venue every Thursday night from June to August.[26][27] Contributing to the music scene in San Marcos, Texas State University hosts the Hill Country Jazz Festival and Eddie Durham Celebration annually.[28]KTSW, the university's radio station, also holds an annual festival called MR Fest. "MR" stands for "My Radio" but is pronounced "mister."[29] In 2012, local entrepreneurs began hosting an ongoing outdoor concert series called Foodstock (a play on Woodstock) to benefit the Hays County Food Bank.[30]

Archeologists have found evidence at the San Marcos River associated with the Clovis culture, which suggests that the river has been the site of human habitation for more than 10,000 years. The headwaters of the cool, clear river are the San Marcos Springs, fed by the Edwards Aquifer. The San Marcos Springs are the third largest collection of springs in Texas. Never in recorded history has the river run dry.

In 1689, Spaniard Alonso de Leon led an expedition from Mexico to explore Texas and establish missions and presidios in the region. De Leon's party helped blaze the Camino Real (later known as the Old San Antonio Road), which followed present-day Hunter Road, Hopkins Street, and Aquarena Springs Drive (the route later shifted four miles to the south; it is now followed by County Road 266, known locally as Old Bastrop Highway). De Leon's party reached the river on April 25, the feast day of St. Mark the Evangelist; the river was thus named the San Marcos.[33][34]

In January 1808, a small group of Mexican families settled at the Old Bastrop Highway crossing of the river, and named the settlement Villa de San Marcos de Neve.[35] The settlers were plagued by floods and Indian raids, and the settlement was abandoned in 1812.[36]

In November 1846 the first Anglos settled in the vicinity of the San Marcos Springs. The Texas Legislature organized Hays County on March 1, 1848, and designated San Marcos as the county seat. In 1851 a town center was laid out about a mile southwest of the headwaters of the river. The town became a center for ginning and milling local agricultural products. The town's most notable founder and early settler was Gen. Edward Burleson, a hero of the Texas Revolution and former vice president of the Republic of Texas. Burleson built a dam on the upper reaches of the river in 1849. The dam powered several mills, including one within present-day Sewell Park.

In 1899, Southwest Texas State Normal School (now known as Texas State University) was established as a teacher's college to meet demand for public school teachers in Texas. In 1907 the San Marcos Baptist Academy was established,[37] furthering education as an important industry for the town. The demands of World War II forced the town's industry to diversify, and with the emergence of a manufacturing and light industrial sector the town began to experience growth.

In the late 1940s, former Hollywood director Shadrack Graham produced a documentary about daily life in San Marcos as part of his “Our Home Town” series of films that encouraged commerce and civic activity in small communities. The film highlights several local businesses from the era, including Smith's Flowers, Waldrin's Cleaners, Lack's Furniture, and the Palace Movie Theater.[38]

Gary Air Force Base, just east of town, was opened in 1942 as San Marcos Army Air Field, renamed San Marcos Air Force Base in 1947, and renamed finally in 1953 in honor of Lieutenant Arthur Edward Gary, killed at Clark Field in the Philippines on December 7, 1941, the first San Marcan to die in World War II. During the war, the base trained over 10,000 navigators, and in the following years was the largest center of Air Force and Army helicopter training for pilots and mechanics in the United States, with 21 squadrons and 4800 personnel stationed there. The base was handed over to the Army in 1956, renamed Camp Gary, and was closed in 1963. Subsequently, part of the base was taken over by the city for use as San Marcos Airport, while another part was reopened in 1966 as the Gary Job Corps Center.[39]

In the 1960s, with the establishment of Aquarena Springs[40] and Wonder World[41] as attractions, the tourist industry became a growing part of the city's economy. By the 1960s what was then named Southwest Texas State University had grown into an important regional institution,[42] and when coupled with the creation of Gary Job Corps Training Center in 1965,[43] education became the largest industry in San Marcos.[44] The remarkable growth explosion of Austin further allowed San Marcos to prosper.

By 1973, San Marcos and Hays County were included by the U. S. Census Bureau in the Austin Metropolitan Statistical Area.[45] By that year the city's population had grown to 25,000 citizens, along with an additional Southwest Texas State University student body of 20,000.

By 1990, the city's population had grown to 28,743, by 2000 it reached 34,733, and by 2010, it was 44,894. A report released by the U.S. Census Bureau in May, 2013 stated that San Marcos had the highest rate of growth among all U.S. cities and towns with at least 50,000 people. Its population rose 6.9 percent between 2011 and 2012.[46] The university, now known as Texas State University, boasts a student body of 34,225.[47]

As of the census of 2010, the population was 44,894 people in the city. In the year 2000 there were 34,733 people, 12,660 households, and 5,380 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,907.5 people per square mile, (736.4/km2) in 2000. There were 13,340 housing units at an average density of 732.6 per square mile (282.8/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 72.55% White, 5.53% African American, 0.65% Native American, 1.23% Asian, 0.11% Pacific Islander, 17.03% from other races, and 2.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 36.50% of the population.

There were 12,660 households out of which 19.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 27.9% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 57.5% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.4% under the age of 18, 41.9% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 10.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 23 years. For every 100 females there were 96.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $25,809, and the median income for a family was $37,113. Males had a median income of $25,400 versus $22,953 for females. The per capita income for the city was $13,468. About 13.8% of families and 28.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.